Chemist

Summary

This position is located in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Center for Tobacco Products (CTP). Duty Station and Telework Notice: This is not a fully remote position. The selectee must adhere to the FDA Telework Policy, which requires regular in-person reporting to a designated FDA facility as determined by agency policy.

Duties

• The incumbent serves as a Chemist and recognized scientific expert in the analysis, investigation, and characterization of the chemical composition and physical properties of tobacco products and tobacco product smoke/aerosol.
• Identifies knowledge gaps that require additional laboratory studies in order to better understand tobacco product chemistry.
• Communicates technical scientific information in a clear, simple way such that non-scientists can understand the information contained in the rulemakings and guidance documents.
• Serves as the principal scientific advisor with other scientists, lawyers, and stakeholders to develop comprehensive policies supporting rulemakings and guidance documents.

Qualifications

The position of Chemist falls within the 1320 occupational series. To qualify for this position at grade GS-13, you must meet Time-in-Grade requirements by 11:59 pm EST on 11/04/2026. Basic Requirements: A. Degree: physical sciences, life sciences, or engineering that included 30 semester hours in chemistry,supplemented by course work in mathematics through differential and integral calculus, and at least 6semester hours of physics. OR B. Combination of education and experience -- course work equivalent to a major as shown in A above,including at least 30 semester hours in chemistry, supplemented by mathematics through differential andintegral calculus, and at least 6 semester hours of physics, plus appropriate experience or additionaleducation. In addition to meeting the basic requirements, you must also meet the specialized experience requirements outlined below. Minimum Qualifications: Specialized experience is experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. The specialized experience must demonstrate one year of full-time work experience , or the equivalent if part-time (for example, an employee working 20 hours per week for a 12-month period should be credited with 6 months of experience.) Experience may have been obtained in either the federal service or its equivalent with state or local government, the private sector, or nongovernmental organizations. Specialized Experience - To qualify for the Chemist GS-13 position, applicants must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-12 level in Federal service. This experience must include: 1. Applying chemical principles to analyze, investigate, and/or characterize the chemical composition and physical properties of complex products or substances; 2. Reviewing manufacturing processes and analytical methods related to chemical or scientific product applications; and 3. Communicating complex technical and scientific findings orally and in writing to both scientific and non-scientific audiences. In accordance with Office of Personnel Management policy, federal employees are assumed to have gained experience by performing duties and responsibilities appropriate for their official series and grade level as described in their position description. Experience that would not normally be part of the employee's position is creditable, however, when documented by satisfactory evidence, such as a signed memorandum from the employee's supervisor or an SF-50 or SF-52 documenting an official detail or other official assignment. The documentation must indicate whether the duties were performed full time or, if part time, the percentage of times the other duties were performed. It is expected that this documentation is included in the employee's official personnel record. In order to receive credit for experience in your resume that is not within the official series and grade level of your official position, you must provide a copy of the appropriate documentation of such experience as indicated above. PHS Commissioned Corps Officers interested in performing the duties of this position within the Commissioned Corps may apply online to this announcement. Candidates will be referred to (CC) personnel and not as candidates for conversion to a permanent career or career-conditional appointment. NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date. To verify your application is complete, log into your USAJOBS account,https://secure.login.gov/ select the Application Status link and then select the More Information link for this position. The Details page will display the status of your application, the documentation received and processed, and any correspondence the agency has sent related to this application. Your uploaded doc…

Education

EDUCATION: See Basic Qualifications Requirements under "Qualifications" section. TRANSCRIPTS: Positions which are scientific or technical in nature often have very specific educational requirements. You must submit an official transcript, unofficial transcript, or a list including courses, grades earned, completion dates, and quarter and semester hours earned. If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities, see the Foreign Education section below for additional requirements. Pay careful attention to the Qualifications and Education sections to identify vacancies where a transcript is required. Even if you hold a similar position or are a current employee, you are not exempt from transcript requirements. Electronic Transcript Caution: If you have obtained your transcripts electronically, the file might contain security measures that could prevent our application system from reading the file. Therefore, you should consider asking the institution to provide the file in a non-secured electronic format. Alternatively, you could scan or take a photo of the printed copy of the transcript. If your uploaded transcript cannot be read by our system, you may receive consideration and credit for the information we can access. FOREIGN EDUCATION Applicants using part, or all of their education completed outside of the U.S. to meet the qualification requirements, must have their foreign education evaluated by an accredited organization to ensure that the foreign education is comparable to education received in accredited educational institutions in the U.S. We will only accept the completed foreign credential evaluation. To be acceptable, the foreign credential evaluation must include/describe at a minimum, the following information: (1) The type of education received by the applicant; (2) The level of education in relation to the U.S. education system, and state that its comparability recommendations follow the general guidelines of the International Eva…